Maintenance of blood glucose level under intensive mental activities: episodic moderate drinkers versus non-drinkers

BackgroundThe benefits of alcohol, especially to the functioning ofthe hearth and circulatory system have always beenrecognized by many researchers world-wide [1]. Butbesides, these positive effects, alcohol use, even in mod-erate amounts can be detrimental under certain condi-tions. Several studies have recognized the hypoglycemiceffect of alcohol use in excessive doses. Centuries ago,Krebs and fellows admitted that acute alcohol intake inexcessive doses results in hypoglycemia [2,3]. However,little is still known about the aftereffects of alcohol atlow doses, even after a week’s interval of moderatedrinking.AimWe examine the efficiency of glucose homeostasis con-trol of non-drinkers and episodic moderate drinkers,after approximately one week interval of moderatedrinking and under intensive mental activities.Materials and methodsThe Ethics Committee approved the study protocoland informed consents were obtained from the volun-teers after the aims and objectives of the study hadbeen explained. The study took 6-hours (on fasting),involving male students (5 non-drinkers and 8 episodicmoderate drinkers that have abstained from alcoholdrinks of any composition for at least the last sevendays before the study). Blood glucose concentration(BGC) was measured at 2 hours interval, includinginitial BGC. Various questionnaires - AUDIT, texts andquestions, neuropsychological questionnaires, tests onvisual, auditory, operative short-term memory andattention (using Anfimov geometric tables) were usedas a measure. The Pearson and Student’st-testswereemployed for statistical analysis of results. The prob-ability value for significance was set at p < 0.05.ResultsSignificant decrease in the effectiveness of active atten-tion and a faster development of fatigue after 4-6 hoursof mental activities in episodic moderate drinkers, com-pared to non-drinkers was statistically proven. Disordersin episodic moderate drinkers are retained within a per-iod of 7-10 days after moderate alcohol use. The non-drinkers had increasing BGC in relation to their initiallevel in all phases of the experiment (ð < 0.001).Increase in BGC of alcohol users was observed onlywithin the first 2 hours (p < 0.05). Thereafter, a signifi-cant fall in BGC was observed in the 4-6 hrs of theexperiment in relation to the BGC of anon-drinkers andits level after 2 hours. Episodic moderate drinkers had26 times higher errors on various tests than the abstai-ners (p < 0.001). The errors made on various testsincreased with decrease in BGC (r = -0.83; p < 0.01).ConclusionsThis is the first study involving male volunteers to showthat alcohol use, even episodic (1-2 times/month) insmall doses (23 ± 8 ml/person/session), after 7-10 daysof alcohol intake, is accompanied by long-term glucosehomeostasis disorders, leading to cognitive function dis-turbances and a decrease in the effectiveness of mentalactivities. Significant decrease in BGC in episodic mod-


Menizibeya Welcome * , Vladimir Pereverzev
Background The benefits of alcohol, especially to the functioning of the hearth and circulatory system have always been recognized by many researchers world-wide [1]. But besides, these positive effects, alcohol use, even in moderate amounts can be detrimental under certain conditions. Several studies have recognized the hypoglycemic effect of alcohol use in excessive doses. Centuries ago, Krebs and fellows admitted that acute alcohol intake in excessive doses results in hypoglycemia [2,3]. However, little is still known about the aftereffects of alcohol at low doses, even after a week's interval of moderate drinking.

Aim
We examine the efficiency of glucose homeostasis control of non-drinkers and episodic moderate drinkers, after approximately one week interval of moderate drinking and under intensive mental activities.

Materials and methods
The Ethics Committee approved the study protocol and informed consents were obtained from the volunteers after the aims and objectives of the study had been explained. The study took 6-hours (on fasting), involving male students (5 non-drinkers and 8 episodic moderate drinkers that have abstained from alcohol drinks of any composition for at least the last seven days before the study). Blood glucose concentration (BGC) was measured at 2 hours interval, including initial BGC. Various questionnaires -AUDIT, texts and questions, neuropsychological questionnaires, tests on visual, auditory, operative short-term memory and attention (using Anfimov geometric tables) were used as a measure. The Pearson and Student's t-tests were employed for statistical analysis of results. The probability value for significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results
Significant decrease in the effectiveness of active attention and a faster development of fatigue after 4-6 hours of mental activities in episodic moderate drinkers, compared to non-drinkers was statistically proven. Disorders in episodic moderate drinkers are retained within a period of 7-10 days after moderate alcohol use. The nondrinkers had increasing BGC in relation to their initial level in all phases of the experiment (ð < 0.001). Increase in BGC of alcohol users was observed only within the first 2 hours (p < 0.05). Thereafter, a significant fall in BGC was observed in the 4-6 hrs of the experiment in relation to the BGC of anon-drinkers and its level after 2 hours. Episodic moderate drinkers had 26 times higher errors on various tests than the abstainers (p < 0.001). The errors made on various tests increased with decrease in BGC (r = -0.83; p < 0.01).

Conclusions
This is the first study involving male volunteers to show that alcohol use, even episodic (1-2 times/month) in small doses (23 ± 8 ml/person/session), after 7-10 days of alcohol intake, is accompanied by long-term glucose homeostasis disorders, leading to cognitive function disturbances and a decrease in the effectiveness of mental activities. Significant decrease in BGC in episodic moderate drinkers was detected in a condition of intensive Department of Human Physiology, Belarusian State Medical University, Minsk, Belarus Welcome and Pereverzev Annals of General Psychiatry 2010, 9(Suppl 1):S211 http://www.annals-general-psychiatry.com/content/9/S1/S211 mental activities and was apparent only after 4-6 hours decrease in BGC. Non-drinkers had an increase in blood glucose concentration under the same condition. Disorders in glucose homeostasis control might be the basis of cognitive function disorders in drinkers.